Scars & Recognition
by Percy Son of Neptune
Summary: Percy saves Annabeth from being hit by a car when they were six. Ten years later, what happens when they meet up in high school and Annabeth doesn't recognize him? Will pain and suffering lead to hope and friendship? Only time will tell. Like the old adage goes, 'Time heals all wounds.' But will time take away the memory needed to help heal those wounds? Only time will tell.
1. Prologue

**And here we go. Here's my new story. It's called Scars & Recognition if you didn't already know. I will be updating both the prologue (this chapter) and chapter 1 today. There will be a slight period of time before chapter 1 is up, but it will be up today.**

**Anyway, enjoy my new story S&R.**

**Here's the prologue of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan. I don't own NY Times either.**

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Prologue

July 23rd, 2001

**SIX-YEAR-OLD KID THROWS HIMSELF IN FRONT OF CAR, SAVES GIRL**

_Julie Peterson, Associated Press_

New York, New York

A six-year old boy is in critical condition in the hospital today after saving a young girl's life.

The accident happened at around 4 pm yesterday afternoon just off of Montauk beach. A single taxi driver had just dropped off a fare and was returning to the city when the boy ran out in front of him.

Less than a second after hitting the boy, bystanders noticed a small girl of around the same age walking out into the street two cars further down from behind a parked van. She would have been hidden from the taxi driver until she stepped out into the road.

Authorities have pieced together that, had the boy not stepped out in front of the taxi, the taxi would have continued its course towards the girl and would have hit her at full speed of around forty miles per hour, instantly killing her.

The taxi driver is not being pressed for charges and the boy is being hailed as a hero.

All would be in vain, though, should the boy die from his injuries. However, doctors at Montauk Regional Hospital believe the boy should make a full recovery, although it will take some time.

Athena Chase, a high-ranking member or Olympic Architectural Firm and the mother of the saved girl, could not be reached for comment.

Donations to help pay the young boy's medical expenses can either be dropped off at the hospital or given online at www . nytimes . co/news/medical-expenses . html.

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**A/N:**

**So, what do you think so far? Interesting article, huh? Aside from the fact that fanfiction won't let me post my made-up link without making all of those stupid changes, I think it was great. Anyway, whatever.**

**There isn't a Question of the Chapter this chapter, but there will be one for Chapter 1.**

**Review if you want to, but there isn't really much here.**

**Thanks!**

**-Percy, Son of Neptune**


	2. Chapter 1

**Ok, here we go. The real story begins. I won't say any more, just enjoy chapter one.**

**Here's Chapter One of Scars & Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for this story.**

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Chapter One: Annabeth POV

"Annabeth?" My mother asked. "Are you ok sweetie?"

I quickly wiped the tears that had formed on my face away.

"Yeah, I'm fine mom."

"Ok, well you should probably get packing."

Packing. That's right. We were moving. I started to cry again. My mom came over and sat next to me on my bed.

"It's ok sweetie," she said.

"No!" I yelled. "No, it's not ok! I don't want to move mom!"

My mother didn't say anything, which made me feel worse. I sobbed and ran out of my room, grabbing my phone as I ran. I dialed my best friend Evelyn's number. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Eve, can I come over?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ok, I'll see you in five."

I hung up and continued out of the house.

Seven minutes later I was standing in front of the Hawkins' residence, waiting for Evelyn to answer the door. My crying was under control, but I knew my eyes were probably still red.

Within a couple of seconds, the door opened and Evelyn and I made our way up to her room.

When we got there, the green-eyed, reddish-brown-haired girl turned towards me.

"What's up Annabeth?" She asked.

"I needed to get away, from, you know."

"Moving," Evelyn said simply.

I had been able to hold my feelings inside of me for a while, but having my best friend say it, I couldn't take it anymore. I broke down crying. Evelyn wrapped me into a hug and I cried into her shoulder.

"I don't want to go Eve," I said eventually.

"I know Annabeth, but you have no choice," she replied. "You just need to enjoy the week you have left and move on."

"I don't want to move on Eve," I said. "I want to stay here with all of my friends."

"I know, but you're bound to make new friends in New York. And you might even meet some old ones too."

"But I haven't lived there since I was six!"

"Who knows?" Evelyn said. "You might find someone you once knew."

"I doubt that."

"I know." My phone vibrated, most likely signaling a text message from my mom. Evelyn seemed to recognize it. "Just make sure to keep in touch, alright?"

"I'll text you every night," I said giving her a hug.

"Ok, do you want me to come over and help you pack?"

"No. I would never get it done if you were there. You'll be there when I leave though, right?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Ok, thanks Eve." I gave her one last hug. "I should probably be going."

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then."

And with that I made my way back home, where I was met with a nearly empty house. Without acknowledging my mom I made my way up to my room and all I found was a mattress and piles of clothes.

I was gone for maybe thirty minutes max and the movers had taken my bed frame and my dressers. Like I said, now all I had was a single mattress on the floor and five or six piles of clothes of around two feet high. And that wasn't counting all of the shoes in my closet.

I sighed and began to pack. Two hours and three suitcases later I had gotten everything off the floor and thought I was done when I remembered my shoes. I sighed again and got two more suitcases from my parents. Forty-five minutes after that I was finally done. I took four of the five suitcases downstairs where my parents were packing and kept one in my room which I would use for my last week.

My last week. It was my last week in San Fran before I moved back to the Big Apple. When we first moved to Cali my mom had promised that we wouldn't move back to New York, especially after the incident, but now we were being forced to. Well, not really. My mom says that's why we're moving, but I know differently. She chose to take her job relocation back in New York rather than across the Atlantic.

I sighed and decided to see how Bobby and Matthew were doing. They probably hadn't even started packing yet.

Their room was right next to mine, so it took me no time at all to get there.

"Hey, Bobs, Matt," I said as I entered their room, "How's the packing going?"

They didn't do anything except look up at me. Their suitcase was lying on the floor open. There weren't any clothes packed inside.

I walked over and sat next to them on the floor.

"We don't want to leave Annabeth," Matt said.

"I know Matt," I replied. "I don't think any of us want to leave, but you know it's either New York or Europe. Plus, why don't you guys want to go to New York? You've never been there."

"Well, yeah," Bobby said. "But we don't want to live there and leave our friends."

"At least you guys will have more time to make friends. I'm going to be a junior in high school."

Bobby was about to reply when our mom came into the room.

"I thought you would be in here Annabeth," she said.

"Yeah," I replied with a little bit of distaste. "Why are you in here then?"

"I have great news. I just got off the phone with Ms. Grace, you remember, Thalia's mom?"

"Yeah, I remember." Thalia was one of the people that I always used to hang out with when I was young. We were complete opposites when it came to personality, but we managed to become best friends. "Why? What about her?"

"Well," my mother said, a smile creeping onto her face, "she was telling me that they are still living in the same apartment in New York and I made sure to ask where Thalia's attending school. You'll never guess where she's going."

A smile started to creep onto my face too. I could tell where this was going.

"The same one I'm going to?" I asked hopefully.

"Yep. Goode High."

I squealed like a little girl, which wasn't like me at all. My brothers gave me weird looks.

"And that's not all," my mom continued, "I got Thalia's phone number too." She held out a piece of paper to me. It read 212-555-7922. I immediately ran out of my brothers' room over to mine and grabbed my phone. I entered the number into my contacts and sent a quick text to Evelyn. I would text Thalia later.

I returned to Bobby and Matt's room. Our mom was still waiting for me.

I said a simple, "Thanks mom," before sitting back down. I was still mad that we were moving, but at least she did one thing right.

"You're welcome Annabeth," she said simply before leaving the room, but not before making us aware that dinner would be ready soon.

The three of us continued to talk for a while and I helped them pack their clothes into suitcases. We had dinner and Evelyn texted me back. I talked with her for a couple hours before she said she had to go.

I decided to text Thalia. Over the next three hours, our conversation went something like this:

**(**_Annabeth_**/**Thalia**)**

_Is this Thalia Grace's number?_

What if it is?

_Then that's good. She's the person I want to talk to._

Who is this?

_Annabeth Chase. We were best friends when we were little._

Annabeth Chase? Like Owl Head, blondie, smartass Annabeth Chase?

_I think smartass is a bit much, but yeah._

Wait. How did you get my number?

_I was stalking you on Facebook. Haha jk. I don't even have a Facebook._

Yeah, I know that. I've tried stalking you myself. Now how did you get my number?

_My mom called up your mom today and was talking with her. She gave me your number._

Ok, so you aren't lying. I just asked my mom if you're wondering and knowing you, you probably are.

_Oh gee thanks._

No problem. Now why did you all of a sudden get an interest in texting me?

_To put it bluntly, I'm moving back to New York._

Wait, really?

_Yeah, we're moving in a week._

That's awesome. Where are you going to school?

_Same place you are. Goode High._

Sweet. Are you living in the same place as before?

_I don't know. I'll have to check with my mom, but she's asleep right now. Wait, what are you still doing up at 3 am?_

Sleepover, duh. Plus, you would be stupid to fall asleep with all of the high school guys here (especially the cute ones)

_Haha. Should I let you get back to them then ;)_

They're not good enough for me Annie. You would have to be pretty special to do what you're saying ;)

_Haha well, I should probably get going. I have this going away party tomorrow and I don't think my mom would like it if I wasn't there._

Oh, any cute guys?

_Don't know yet. I'll make sure to send you pics if there are :)_

You better.

_Haha, I'll talk with you later, ok Thals?_

Yeah, later.

And with that I fell asleep, thinking that if New York was a must, I was off to a good start.

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**A/N:**

**And the first chapter is in the books. What do you think? Give me some ideas for this story and I might include them in future chapters.**

**If you didn't see it, I am currently writing the sequel for The Princess and the Peasant. The first chapter will be uploaded on Monday December 17th. If you want to know the title, or what the story will be about, head over to my website. The link is in my profile.**

**Now the Question of the Chapter: Have you ever moved, and, if so, how far did you move from your previous home?**

**I have moved once in my life, right before I started grade school and I've been in the same place ever since. It was only a short move, I guess, only about two or two-and-a-half hours, but not that bad.**

**Now make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm back! I bet you're all glad to see another chapter from PSON. Well, here it is.**

**A few things though, before chapter two. I was initially going to address the shootings at the elementary school in Connecticut in my next updated chapter, but upon further thought, I've decided against that, for certain reasons that I won't go into. Secondly, I hope that you all had a good holiday and new year. If you didn't, I'm sorry, but here's a new chapter to cheer you up. Third, I am very impressed by you guys. I had some excellent reviews since I've last posted, not just from this story, but from my other stories as well. I think a few people will get a chapter dedicated to them in the next couple of weeks.**

**In other words, if you didn't know, the sequel to The Princess and the Peasant has been posted for almost a month now. Its title is The Prince, The Girl and The World if you want to search for it, or the link can be found on my profile. Chapter two should probably be posted before the end of the month.**

**Ok, I think that's good enough, so here's Chapter Two of Scars & Recognition. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm still not Rick Riordan.**

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Chapter Two: Percy POV

I slid over next to my cousin Thalia.

"So, who are you texting?" I asked.

"No one," she replied quickly. I gave her a look and she was about to tell me off when her phone buzzed. Thalia tried to hide it, but it was pretty obvious.

"Ok Thals, if you say so."

Thalia sent me a glare but it quickly softened when her eyes focused on something over my right shoulder. Her glare turned into a wry smile.

"Have fun Percy," she said before jumping up and walking off.

I quickly turned to look over my right shoulder when a bundle of red jumped into me.

"Hey Percy," the girl said excitedly. "Pretty awesome sleepover, huh?"

"Hey Rachel," I replied. "Eh, it's alright."

"Oh shut up Percy. You're enjoying yourself."

"It's my cousin's sleepover. I _have_ to be enjoying myself."

Rachel laughed and sat down next to me. I sighed inwardly. I had nothing against Rachel, don't get me wrong. She obviously liked me and she wasn't a bad looking girl – quite the opposite in fact. It's just that she could be very annoying sometimes. I mean, all girls can be at times, but she is a little more than normal. Luckily, my best friend Grover saved me before things got really awkward.

"Yo, Perce," he said. "Beck's got five bucks on you losing to him at the felt table."

I jumped up. "Oh, he's on," I said. "I'm beast at pool."

"Yeah, well he doesn't think so," Grover replied.

I started to walk out of the room when I remembered Rachel. I turned back towards her.

"Sorry Rach. Duty calls."

Rachel responded with what looked like a forced smile. It was, after all, close to three in the morning. The sleepover was planned to go until seven when most of the people that were invited would leave. I would be staying, but Thalia and I had a family thing going on that day. Rachel had probably been waiting until I was open and that hadn't happened until just a moment ago.

I turned away from Rachel and Grover and I headed off towards one of the side rooms. The first thing that caught my eye when we entered was the sheer amount of people sitting around the pool table. I looked sideways at Grover, but he seemed just as surprised as I was.

"Well, look who decided to show up."

I turned to look towards the person who spoke. I knew who it was of course.

Charles Beckendorf was a tank, by definition. He was at least 6'4" and easily 250 lbs. Unless you were friends with him you were probably scared of him. He wasn't that bad of a guy though when you got to know him.

"So," I responded, "I hear you have five dollars on me losing."

"You've heard correctly."

I gave him a smirk. "Shall we get started then?"

"It's your break," he said simply, motioning to the table.

My cousin Nico tossed me a pool stick from halfway across the room, which I caught in stride. I made my way to the far end of the table. Everything was already set up. Someone to my right yelled, "Go Percy!" and a few people chipped in their thoughts as well. I took a quick look at Beckendorf before I sent the cue ball on its way.

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It was pretty even. Beckendorf had immediately called out a best 2-out-of-3 after I trounced him easily in the first game. I gave it to him, as I was having a pretty good time against him. He surprised me in the second game however, so we were in our third and final game. We each had two balls left; I was stripes, he was solids. Beckendorf quickly pocketed his two remaining billiards but he clearly had no play on the eight-ball.

Frustrated, Beckendorf spent some time trying to find some way to make a play on the eight-ball. I saw one way, but I definitely wasn't going to tell him.

"Hey Beck, you gonna play?" I joked.

"Hold on Percy," he replied, still deep in thought.

"Just pin him in the corner."

Immediately I turned to look at the person who spoke. Of course it would be one of the Stoll brothers. I sent him a glare, but quickly gave it up. He would suggest the only _real_ way to get out of the situation, which was to put me in one.

"Nice idea Travis," Beckendorf said. He then went on to place the eight-ball perfectly in front of one of my remaining two balls. I had just missed a shot on my last turn, so my second ball was now around a centimeter or two from dropping in the cup. Of course you cannot hit the eight-ball without hitting one of your balls first, so I knew I had quite the situation.

"All yours Perce."

I gave him a look and quickly drained my other ball. I decided that I didn't have any shot on my last ball so I just threw away a shot, so to speak. Beckendorf couldn't really do anything without hitting my ball in and thus basically giving me the win so he just threw away his shot as well. I was about to throw away another shot when I realized that this would keep going back and forth until one of us made a mistake. I turned to Beckendorf.

"This is getting nowhere."

"Agreed," he replied.

"Call it a draw?" I offered.

"Might as well."

With that, I sent off a random shot, not caring where it went, seeing as the match didn't matter anymore. And of course what does the cue ball do? That's right; it misses the eight-ball and taps in the final stripe. I looked over at Beckendorf, not believing what just happened.

"Wow," he said. "That sucks man. Too bad we called it off."

I sighed and looked over at my cousin Thalia, who was laughing like crazy. A few other kids had smirks on their faces.

"Whatever," I said, putting the pool stick away. "At least I didn't lose five bucks."

I heard Beckendorf say 'Same' in the background, but I wasn't really listening. I was focused on my phone, which had just vibrated in my pocket. When I opened the text, I realized it was from someone I hadn't talked to in ages. A smile crept onto my face as I hit 'Reply.'

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**A/N:**

**Another cliffy. Man, I like to write those, because you guys always freak out about them. Ok, I basically already said a lot in the note at the top, so this author's note is going to be short.**

**Question of the Chapter: In order to celebrate the changing to the new year, I have a trivia question for you guys. The person that guesses the closest date will get the next chapter dedicated to them. Sound good? Here's the question: On what date in 2013 will I graduate from high school? Hint: it's still a couple of months away.**

**Like I said, winner gets chapter 3 dedicated to them.**

**Now make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm back once more! I told you guys I would upload again before the end of the month, and here it is.**

**This is the third chapter of Scars and Recognition. We have a slight unexpected twist in the plot in this chapter.**

**Oh, and two more things before we get started. I am officially eighteen now! My birthday was yesterday, and before you ask, I had a good day.**

**Secondly, this chapter will be dedicated to three people for correctly guessing within a day of my graduation. AtlantaJackson95, Pokemonchen and MegJackson all correctly guessed within one day of the date of June 8th! Congratulations you three, this chapter is dedicated to you.**

**So, without further adieu, enjoy Chapter Three of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan.**

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Chapter Three: Percy POV

As expected, everyone started to leave around seven in the morning. My mom was set to show up at Thalia's house around nine, so I hit the sheets to get a quick hour of sleep in.

Thalia woke me up abruptly at 8:30 and by the time I had gotten a shower, my mom had already arrived.

"Hey sweetie," my mom said as I walked into the kitchen. "Did you have a nice sleepover?"

I rolled my eyes as I answered, "Yes mom. It was fun." I could hear Thalia snicker in the background. I sent her a quick glare.

Almost immediately after I sat down, my phone buzzed again. I smiled inwardly as I saw who it was. I sent off a quick text message back to her before tuning into the conversation.

"Well," Thalia's mom was saying, "I'm not sure how to say this." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thalia's head snap up. Apparently she was texting someone too.

"Say what?" She asked suspiciously.

"You know I was one of the candidates to get that promotion at work, right?"

"Well yeah, but what does that have to do with this?" Thalia asked.

"Well, I got the job," her mom said, but her voice seemed sort of reluctant.

"That's great mom! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I had just learned that I had gotten the job yesterday and I didn't want to ruin your sleepover."

"Why would that ruin it?" I asked, jumping into the conversation.

"Yeah, why would that be a bad thing mom?"

"Here's the thing, Thals. The only condition was that I would have to relocate. In Seattle."

There was complete silence at the table. Even my mom, who normally talks too much, wasn't even saying a word.

"So that means…" Thalia said slowly.

"We're moving in two weeks," her mom finished.

Thalia was quiet for a few seconds. Then she did something I never thought I would see Thalia do; she started crying.

"No. No mom, please. We can't move. School starts in two weeks. We can't be moving across the country. I only have two years of school left. My friends are the only people I've known for my whole life. I can't change that now."

"I'm sorry Thalia, but I can't do anything about it. I've already accepted the job. You know how much this extra money will help us."

"No. Just-just call off your acceptance. Tell them you've changed your mind. We can live alright without the extra money. We can-" She broke down crying. Since I was closest to her, I stood up and wrapped my arms around Thalia's shoulders. Thalia and I were probably two of the closest cousins that you would ever meet. Yeah, we made fun of each other a lot, but not because we hated each other. I couldn't imagine not seeing her every weekend.

I was just starting to imagine my life without Thalia when my mom saved the day.

"She can move in with us."

My head snapped over to my mom, taking in what she just said. Before Thalia's mom could rebut it, I joined in, "Yeah, that's a great idea! Thalia can finish out her two years of high school with us. She's already slept over at our apartment so many times, it wouldn't be any different."

"I don't know," Thalia's mom said tentatively.

"She'll be safe with us," my mom said. "Don't worry."

"Yeah mom," Thalia said. Luckily she had stopped crying by now. "Just think of it as an extended sleepover."

"Ok, I guess it's alright," her mom conceded. "But you will come and visit every so often right?"

"Yeah, of course!" Thalia answered quickly. "Every chance I get."

"Ok, good." Thalia's mom sighed. "It'll be sad to leave you, but I'm sure you'll be happy here with the Jacksons and all of your friends and that's all that matters, right?"

"Don't worry mom. I'll call you every night."

"I'll hold you to that young lady."

"Thanks mom." Thalia made her way over to her mom and they shared a hug.

"You're welcome. And thanks Sally."

"Yeah, thanks so much Mrs. Jackson."

"You're welcome Thalia. It'll be nice to have another girl around the house."

"Hey," I said. The other three laughed.

"Oh come on Percy, don't be such a buzz kill. Lighten up a bit."

I rolled my eyes at her and looked down to check my phone which had buzzed again.

_10:30 sound good?_ the message read. I looked up at the clock, which read 9:30.

_Yeah, I'll meet you then._

I got up from the table and made my way back to the room where I had put my stuff for the sleepover. I got changed and headed back to the kitchen, where breakfast was being served.

Thalia was the first person to notice me. She had a smirk on her face. "Going somewhere Perce?"

"Yeah, want to come along?" I joked back.

"Between you and her?" She said. "No thanks." I rolled my eyes at Thalia as I sat down. I looked up at my mom, who had a look of recognition on her face.

"Is she in from Hawai'i?"

"Yeah, she just got here yesterday. She's staying a week."

"Ok, tell her she's welcome to come over."

"Ok mom. Thanks."

When I was done with breakfast, I gathered up all of my belongings from the sleepover and got out my car keys. I told my mom I would probably be back in time for dinner, but I would call her if plans changed. After that, I headed out the door for Starbucks.

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**A/N:**

**So, sort of another cliffy? Maybe? Let's call it a half-cliffy then. I've already had one person correctly guess who Percy was texting and now going to meet up with, and I have a feeling more of you now can guess who it is.**

**Thalia is now going to stay with the Jacksons. Hmm, interesting. That will be a key event in a future chapter.**

**Ok, so it seemed like you guys really like the idea of the trivia question, so I'm going to do it again: On what page and line of which book was Reyna's older sister Hylla first mentioned? Like this chapter, correct answers get the following chapter dedicated to them.**

**In other words, I am going to be uploading the next chapter of The Prince, The Girl and The World later this afternoon and possibly the next chapter of The Big Three as well, but that is highly unlikely. If not today, then most likely it will be up tomorrow. So make sure to look for those as well.**

**As always, make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm finally back with more S&R. It's been too long for this story, hasn't it?**

**A lot of people were wondering who Percy was texting in the previous chapters, and that is revealed this chapter. A lot of you guessed it right, so for that I commend you.**

**As to last chapter's trivia question, I realized about a week or so afterwards that it wasn't the best question to ask, since there are several versions of the book out there. The correct answer was The Sea of Monsters, which by the way has its movie trailer out now, and I got to say it looks awesome!**

**Anyway, I'm not going to state a page number or a line, since there are so many different versions out there. If you gave me SoM, I'm going to give you the credit.**

**Here are your correct answerers: LuLuLucian444, Apeni, InfinitePanicAttacks33, Sergant Sarcasm, and Pokemonchen.**

**Whew, now on with the story.**

**Enjoy Chapter Four of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan's _son_ is the same age as me.**

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Chapter Four: Percy POV

I walked through the door of the café and immediately I noticed several of the guys in the café were looking in the direction of a girl who was sitting all by herself. The girl had caramel-colored hair that was braided over her one shoulder and she was looking down at the table, drawing pictures with her fingers.

I walked up behind her. She immediately felt my presence and looked up at me. Her face lit up and a smile came to her face. She jumped out of her seat and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Percy!" She exclaimed.

"Hey, Caly," I replied, returning the hug. "You learn to surf yet?"

"Sort of," she said with a laugh. Once Calypso learned that she was going to move to Hawai'i, we came up with this joke that she was going to learn how to surf. I could tell that it was going well.

The two of us broke apart and sat down at the table opposite each other.

"So," I said, breaking the silence. "How's Hawai'i been?"

"Great," she replied enthusiastically. "The weather's awesome, although I gotta say I miss New York."

"I'm sure you do. After all, I'm here, aren't I?"

"Oh, shut up Percy," she said, throwing a half-hearted punch at me. "You know, you haven't changed one bit."

"And you're just as beautiful as you were when you left."

"See," Caly said timidly, her face turning red. "You can't just say that. You throw that out there like it's nothing; like you say that all the time."

I shrugged. "It's how I got you to date me."

"Percy, we stopped dating over a year ago."

"You moved," I said. "There was nothing I could really do about that."

"You agreed-"

"I know I agreed. But you're still my friend, so I'm going to treat you that way."

"You tell all of your friends that they're beautiful?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Grover thinks it's a little weird, but…" I trailed off at the end.

Caly gave a short laugh.

"You really haven't changed, have you?"

"I've grown a couple of inches," I told her. Calypso shook her head.

"Percy, stop. You're making me want to move back to New York and I've only been here for a couple of hours." I let the silence grow a little bit before replying.

"My mom's making dinner tonight. You're welcome to come over. I know how much you like her cooking."

"I can't," she said somewhat reluctantly. "My parents want me to have dinner with them tonight."

"They can come over too," I said, trying to convince her.

"Percy, I can't."

"Fine," I said. "How about tomorrow?"

"Ok," she said with a laugh. "Tomorrow."

"And bring your parents. I'm sure my mom would love to reminisce with them."

"Reminisce?" She said. "Well, well, look at you using big words."

"Hey, don't push it." Calypso laughed again. The silence drew out. Eventually, Caly broke the silence.

"So, any girlfriends I should know about?"

"No," I said quickly, not expecting the question. "Not right now."

"Really?" She asked surprised. "You, being single? Wasn't that a rarity freshman year?"

"Oh shut up," I said. "Things have changed a little since I dated you." I turned to look out the window of the café.

"What, you weren't switching girls every other week?" I looked back at Caly. She had to be mocking me.

I didn't answer her. She was too busy laughing anyways. Looking around, I saw that most of the guys who were looking Caly up when I walked in were either gone or not looking in our direction. I heard Caly's laugh come to an abrupt stop.

"Wait," she said. "You _have_ dated other girls after me, right?"

"A couple," I said, not bothering to look back at her.

"Oh, good," she replied, relieved. "I'd be worried for you if you hadn't dated anybody else last year."

"I would be too," I replied.

Caly gave me a smile. We continued to talk for a couple of hours before she had to go back to her hotel to get changed for dinner. She promised me that she would be over the next night and we went our separate ways.

* * *

"Well, well," My mom said. "Look who it is."

"Hey Sally," Caly replied. It was twenty-four hours later. Caly had just walked through the door to our apartment.

"It's nice to see you again sweetie. How are your parents doing?"

"They're doing fine."

"Wait," I said, finally realizing the situation. "Where are your parents? I thought you said they were coming with you."

"I never really told them that they were invited. I kinda just said, 'I'm going to Percy's house for dinner,' and they just told me to have fun. They didn't really think anything of it."

I sighed. I kind of expected Calypso to pull something like that.

"Oh well," I said. "Just make sure you bring them back some cookies. We made extra for them."

Caly gave a short laugh.

"Ok, Percy. Just for them."

We sat down for dinner and the first few minutes were spent in silence as the three of us ate our food. Finally, I had to break the silence.

"So," I said. "What do you think, Caly? Still just as good as it was two years ago?"

"Oh, definitely," she said between bites. "Secretly, I've always wished that my mom could cook as well as you Sally."

"Oh don't say that," my mom replied. "Always remember in life that the best food you've ever tasted is _always_ your mother's. Never say any different even though it may not be true."

"There you go Caly," I said. "Add that to your list of 'Life Lessons Learned From Sally Jackson.' 'Your mom's cooking is always number one.'"

Caly laughed as my mom gave me a look. I turned away, trying not to choke on my food in the presence of my mom's glare.

"Oh, by the way," Caly remembered. "Is Thalia still living here?"

"Yeah," I replied. "She's actually going to move in with us in a couple weeks. We can meet up with her sometime this week if you'd like."

"Why is she moving in with you guys?"

"Her mom got offered a new job that's going to give her a lot more money, but it's in Seattle, so Thalia doesn't want to move with only two years of high school left."

"So you offered to take her in?"

"Yeah." I paused. "Well, actually my mom did, but I backed her up immediately."

"Oh, that's cool," she replied. "I think that's a great idea." Caly paused for a couple of seconds to take another bite of her mashed potatoes. "Wait, you said we could meet up with her this week?"

"Yeah. We were planning on heading to the carnival this Wednesday when it opens. Are you still going to be around then?"

"Yeah. We're heading back Saturday."

"Ok, sweet. Care to join us?"

"Yeah, I'd love to."

"Sounds like a plan then."

Caly stayed for another couple of hours before she said she had to head back to her hotel. She initially was going to call a taxi, but I told her I could drive her back if she wanted. She accepted and the two of us headed out after making sure to grab a case full of cookies for her parents.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? Did you guess correctly? At least eight other people did.**

**Ok, we are progressing slowly. Chapter Five is in Annabeth's POV and Chapter Six will be back with Percy and co. Chapter Seven will be where the real action starts if you guys can hold out with me until then.**

**In other news, I need your help. I came up with a new idea for a story and I need to know if you guys would be interested in reading it. I'll give you guys the preliminary summary and you tell me whether it seems interesting or not. It's going to be called 'The Ten.' Here's the summary:**

_There are only ten. A schoolboy. A princess. A jeweler. An archaeologist. A nerd. A blacksmith. A pilot. An actress. A soldier. And a leader. Ten people, ten bracelets, ten places across the globe. And only one year before everything ceases to exist._

**So, tell me what you guys think. Does this seem like an interesting enough story? If so, I'll write it and the debut will be sometime in late June. If not, that's fine. Just let me know your ideas. Thanks.**

**Now for the Question of the Chapter: What was the only book in either series (PJO or HOO) in which Percy did not appear on the cover? This one's pretty easy, but oh well.**

**Thanks again for your input.**

**Make sure you review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	6. Chapter 5

**And we're back! Only just over a month, so we're not that out of things.**

**If you're wondering why this story hasn't been updated in so long it's because I was busy finishing one of my other stories, The Big Three. I'll talk more about this later, but just so you know, it's finished now.**

**Ok, last chapter I asked you guys which story was the only one in which Percy did not appear on the cover and a lot of you knew the right answer, which was The Lost Hero, which had Jason, Piper and Leo riding on Festus the dragon.**

**Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to the following individuals: percyjason, daughterofpercabeth12188, Colts12broncos18, elliefs, kazoquel4, bluelightningbug, ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWasted, annabeth the wise girl, LuLuLucian444, PJOSeaOfMonstersFan, Lord Voldemort XIV, LeahTymara, Ble fotia, annabeth fan 101, Pokemonchen, percabethico, Percabeth'sOwlette and two guests. Whew. That was a lot of names. Nineteen correct answers if I'm counting correctly.**

**Anyway, enough of me talking. Enjoy Chapter Five of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: More people got that question right than my age, so no, I don't think I'm Rick Riordan.**

* * *

Chapter Five: Annabeth POV

_Red? Or green? _I thought as I looked through my closet. _Or how about blue?_

This honestly shouldn't have been that hard. All I was doing was picking out a dress to wear for my going away party, but I was making it more difficult than it was. After all, this was probably the last time I would see my friends in a long time, if ever again.

I sighed and then just picked one at random. Life was too short to be fretting about stupid things like this.

Normally I wouldn't be caught dead in a dress, but I had to agree with my mom on this one. I should at least look good for my party. Like I said, it was probably the last time I'd ever see these guys anyway.

I undressed and then slipped the dress I had picked over my shoulders. It was a simple gray dress that came down to my knees. There was nothing really special about it, but it was still one of my favorites. Every time I wore it, people would mention that it was the same color as my eyes, which I didn't mind the first couple times, but it soon got annoying after the tenth time.

I pulled out my gray flats and slipped them on the bottom of my feet. I wasn't against heels, so to say, but I wasn't really a fan of them. I knew it would be a bad idea to wear them to this party since I knew there would be a lot of crying and walking around for me and I didn't want to have to worry about keeping my balance all the time.

I headed downstairs to find Bobby and Matthew each dressed up in a polo shirt; Bobby with green and Matthew with red. They had some friends coming over to see them off as well.

When they saw me, they ran over and gave me a hug.

"Annabeth!" They exclaimed. I had to laugh.

"Hey guys," I replied. "Why are you so excited? I saw you guys this morning."

"Yeah, but you weren't dressed up then," Bobby said.

"Well, neither were you," I told him, ruffling his hair.

"Stop," he said annoyingly. "Mom made us do this."

I laughed again.

"You know, when you're older you'll want to dress up more. It helps impress the ladies."

Bobby pouted, but he didn't answer. I smiled and gave him a ruffle of his hair once more.

"You'll thank me later," I told him before heading off towards the kitchen.

When I got there though, I was in for a surprise. A guy my age was standing next to my parents in the kitchen. The three of them were holding a conversation. The guy had sandy blond hair and blue eyes. He was about the same height as my father, who was 6'1", and he was well built and athletic looking. I could feel my face starting to heat up as I checked myself over.

"Well, well, look who it is," the guy said turning towards me. He had on a white polo shirt and khaki pants, which made me want to die, he looked so good.

"Lu-Luke?" I stuttered, looking back up at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Your going away party?" He said. "I _was_ invited, wasn't I?"

I blushed once more. "Y-yeah," I said. Gods, why was I stuttering so much? "But why are you here so early?"

Luke smiled and I felt as if my body was going to crumple, my knees were shaking so much. Why was I acting this way? I had talked with him before and it hadn't been this bad, had it?

_Well, _my brain answered, _you weren't seeing him for the last time before._

"What? Was I supposed to arrive at a certain time?" He asked, that amazing smile still plastered on his face.

"Um, I guess not," I said, my eyes shying down to meet the floor.

"Well, then what's the problem?"

"Uh, I guess I, uh, didn't expect anyone to be here so soon." Gods, I needed to stop stuttering.

"Well, here I am," he said. "Come on, let's head out back. That's where the party's going to be anyway, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Ok." I mentally facepalmed as I followed Luke outside. I stepped in line with him as we walked around the yard. We had a tent set up and several tables, some filled with food, were stationed around the center. Luke walked over and picked up some chips in his hand. He threw one in his mouth before speaking.

"You asked why I was here so early," he started. "Truth is I can't really stay long. I have something I need to do today, so I figured I'd come early."

"When do you have to leave?" I asked, my voice finally cooperating.

Luke looked down at his watch.

"In about fifteen minutes, actually," he said.

"What?" I said quickly. "You're not serious?"

"Unfortunately I am," he replied. "Now aren't you glad I came early?" He walked over and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, throwing chips in his mouth using his other hand.

I blushed and wrapped my right arm around his waist.

"Oh," he said quickly. "I almost forgot." He pulled out a small rectangular box from his pocket. It was covered in wrapping paper. He handed it to me.

"What's this?" I asked confused.

"A present. Something for you to remember me by." I looked up at him. "Go on, unwrap it."

I ripped the paper off and found myself with a box. I lifted the top off and found a picture inside. It was a picture of Luke and I this past winter. We were standing on my deck in about an inch of snow. His arm was wrapped around my waist. We were getting ready to head to our school's winter dance. I was wearing a solid gold dress that came down to my ankles and Luke was matching me perfectly. We both had huge smiles on our faces for the picture.

"Aw, Luke, you didn't have to," I said, walking over and wrapping him in a hug.

"You remember that night, right?" He asked, returning the hug.

"Of course," I replied. "Best night of my life." That got a smile out of him.

"Don't forget me, ok?"

"How could I forget you?" Luke smiled.

"Just keep in touch, ok?" And that's when he did something completely unexpected. He leaned down and kissed me. Luke kissed me right on the lips. "Have fun in New York. I'll miss you."

I was in too much shock to respond as Luke turned and headed off towards his car. Luke had actually kissed me. Me of all people. It felt like a dream, but I knew it wasn't. I don't know how I managed to look sane the rest of the day. I didn't even tell Evelyn until she was about to leave. She was in shock to say the least.

"What?" She exclaimed. "You've been keeping this in for the entire party?"

I managed to nod, a sheepish smile plastered on my face.

"Oh Annabeth, you're in trouble. I'm calling you as soon as I get home, ok? And you better answer and tell me everything. Everything, you hear?"

I gave my best friend a smile. "Love you too, Eve."

Evelyn gave me a look as she climbed in her car and drove back to her house.

* * *

Everything was different a couple days later when we were in the terminal.

_Boarding for Flight 2367 to New York is now open. First class may now board the plane._

I was crying, wrapping my arms around my best friend, my suitcase sitting next to me.

"I'll miss you Eve."

"I'll-I'll miss you too Annie," she replied giving me a half-smile. I was so sad I couldn't even give her a glare. I tried, but I couldn't hold it. I broke down crying. Evelyn was the only person I allowed to come to see me off. I couldn't stand having anyone else there. Evelyn was bad enough.

_Rows 28-40 may now board the plane._

"Come on Annabeth," my mom said. I turned away from Eve for a second to look at her. "It's our turn to board."

I turned back to my best friend, tears returning to my face.

"I'll miss you so much Eve. You-you don't even know."

"I'll miss you too, Annabeth. Please, keep in touch alright." She held out her arms for one last hug, which I gratefully returned. I wanted my last hug to be the best.

I gave my best friend a kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you when I land, ok?"

Evelyn returned the kiss on the cheek. "Travel safe."

The two of us broke apart and I headed over to my parents who were waiting for me by the check-in. They handed me my ticket and I scanned it.

"Enjoy your trip," the lady said. I gave her a smile, wiping the tears from my eyes. I turned to look at my best friend one last time before I walked down the path to the plane.

Evelyn waved with her one hand, the other wiping the tears from her eyes. I couldn't take it anymore. I left my suitcase by my parents and sprinted over to my best friend, wrapping her in one last hug.

"I'll miss you Eve," I told her. "I love you."

I didn't even give her a chance to respond as I broke apart and rejoined my parents. I didn't care if I just made a scene. I would say good-bye to my best friend only one time. I turned and saw Evelyn still standing there. I gave her one last wave before turning and heading down the tunnel to the plane that would take me to a new life in New York.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what do you think? I've included Luke now, and he'll play a bigger role as the story comes to a close.**

**Good news, I finally started to write out the plot for this story and I've come up with 24 chapters. That's right, preliminary number for S&R is 24 chapters. I think you'll enjoy that number.**

**In other news I've published my sixth story, The Ten. It came out yesterday and it looks to be a hit. If you guys remember the summary I had written for you guys last chapter and you liked it, good news. I decided to go ahead and write the actual story. Head over to my profile and check it out if you have the time.**

**I also have uploaded a new chapter for The Prince, The Girl and The World earlier today, so if you're interested head over and check that out as well.**

**Like I said above, I have now completed The Big Three, so I'll be able to focus more on this story as time goes along. Let's aim for a new chapter coming out sometime next week. More details will come as this week progresses. Follow my Twitter for constant updates.**

**Ok, I think that's all the news I have for you guys now, so we should move onto the Question of the Chapter.**

**Here's today's Question: Have you ever had a moving experience like the one Annabeth is going through? This could be from either side, be it Annabeth's as the mover, or Evelyn's as the best friend who's staying behind. I'll say that I haven't had a good friend move away, but I'm sure that'll happen sometime after I'm out of college.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.**

**Now, make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	7. Chapter 6

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. Every review is helpful.**

**Last chapter I had one review who basically reminded me entirely of this story, so since I didn't do a trivia question last chapter I'm going to dedicate this chapter to her. Congratulations to Cupcake girl282. This next chapter is dedicated to you.**

**We move onto chapter 6 now. Percy and Thalia are about to pick up Calypso to go to the carnival.**

**Enjoy Chapter Six of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: Under a month until the SoM movie!**

* * *

Chapter Six: Percy POV

"Hey Caly," I said as she opened the door to her hotel room. "Are you ready to go?"

Calypso looked herself over once before nodding.

"Yeah, let's head out."

She joined in with Thalia and I and the three of us headed down to the street. In no time we were at the entrance to the carnival.

The three of us stopped in admiration, scanning side-to-side to see what the carnival brought.

The first thing I spotted was the huge bouncy castle on my left with a line stretching around the corner. There were pretzel stands, cotton candy stands and almost any other food stand you could name. Skee-ball, the duck-shooting game with the water and the sledge hammer to try to ring the bell on top were strewn about the area. Bumper cars could be seen to my right and a Ferris wheel could be seen in the distance.

"Oh my gods, this is amazing," Calypso said.

"Just like when we were kids, huh Thalia?" I replied.

"Yeah," she said. "I still remember thrashing you in bumper cars."

"Oh, is that so? I think we should revisit and see who actually won those, don't you think?"

"You're on Perce. Come on princess, let's go destroy your boyfriend."

Thalia dragged Calypso off in a yelp by her left arm. I followed the two girls towards the bumper cars. In no time we were at the front of the line and heading into the arena. The bumper cars followed an oval course, so you had to drive around like a racecar driver, but that still didn't take away from the bumping.

I hopped into one car and the girls teamed up in another.

"I'll drive," I heard Thalia say. "You just keep your foot on the gas."

I smiled at that and got ready. I knew the girls were behind me and I didn't plan on letting them hit me anytime soon.

I heard the cars heat up and I hit the gas as the other cars flew into action. Note I said the _other_ cars flew into action. I stomped on the gas another time, but I still didn't go anywhere.

Someone slammed me from behind, presumably the girls, and I just about broke my neck from the whiplash.

"Percy, what are you doing?" I heard Thalia yell from behind me.

Instead of answering her I just stomped on the accelerator once more. Again, it didn't work. I stepped on it a couple more times as the girls passed me. I looked up, frustrated. Of course I would be the one to get the car that would break.

People flew by me, occasionally hitting into me and forcing me farther towards the outside. I saw the girls pass three or four times, Calypso waving each time they swung by. Angrily, I stomped the gas three more times and surprisingly on the third time it worked. I got about ten feet before the car came to a stop. The ride was over.

I stood up from my seat and turned towards the exit when I realized what had happened. One of the control guys had inched their way around the outside, trying not to get hit, when he finally reached me. He had turned some sort of lever or something and fixed the car.

I joined back up with Thalia and Calypso, who were both laughing and smiling, having a great time.

"Oh my gods, Percy," Thalia said. "You're so bad at bumper cars. How could you ever think of beating us?"

I turned towards her as she shared a laugh with Calypso.

"That was completely unfair," I told her. "If I had a working car I would have smashed you two."

"Excuses don't get you anywhere in life Percy," Caly said smoothly. "Just bow down to the true champions now and save yourself the embarrassment."

"No. We're going back there before we leave today."

The girls laughed in harmony and they followed me away from the bumper cars.

Turns out we didn't get to go back to the bumper cars. We were having too much fun everywhere else.

We ran into my best friend Grover and his girlfriend Juniper in the bouncy castle. And by that I literally mean _in_ the bouncy castle. I crashed into Grover and just about kneed Juniper in the head, but luckily both of them were ok.

We decided to talk later because this was supposed to be one of their dates, so I let them go. Juniper gave me a hug and I clapped Grover on the back and we agreed we needed to hang out before school started.

I bounced away from the two of them, doing a back flip in the process. I think I took out a fourth grader, but he seemed ok so I let it go.

I beat Thalia in the duck-shooting game, but surprisingly Calypso beat us both. Caly got a teddy bear with an 'I heart NY' shirt on. She said it was to remind her of New York when she was back in Hawai'i.

We stopped and got cotton candy (blue of course) and we were on our way to the Ferris wheel when I heard one of the workers shouting.

"Step right up. Ring the bell and win a $50 Visa gift card redeemable for any purchase. Be our first winner today. Step right up ladies and gentlemen."

"Percy, you should totally try that," Calypso said to me.

"That, nah. It's all fixed anyways."

"What, you scared you're not strong enough, Perce?" Thalia teased.

"What? No-"

Thalia kept on with the teasing, so I caved.

"Fine. I'll show you. Here, hold this." I handed Thalia my half-eaten cotton candy and trudged right up to the carny.

"Looks like we have a new contestant. Young man, may I ask your name?"

"Percy," I replied as the carny's assistant handed me the sledge hammer.

"Well, Percy, here are the rules. You get two tries to hit the bell. You fail, well tough luck. But if you manage to hit the bell, great prizes await! A brand spanking new $50 Visa gift card, at your service!" He held the card in front of me, proving the deal true. "Are you ready to attempt?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Well then, step right up and give her a go!"

I turned towards the game. It was around fifteen feet high and one of those bells you'd see in old fashioned schools was at the top. I looked down at the platform I had to hit. It looked to be around three inches square on either side, which was only slightly larger than the hammer's head itself.

Ok, I thought. What did the carny say? I only had two chances. I tossed the sledge hammer up and down a few inches to get a feel for its weight. It seemed pretty heavy, but that was expected for an event like this. I figured I'd use my first hit to get a feel for it and then go for it all on the second hit.

I practiced my motion a couple times, stopping the head before it hit the platform.

"Are you going to hit or not Perce?"

Without even turning around I answered, "Shut up Thalia." And with that I threw down my first hit.

I just missed the center of the platform as I was a little too far towards the back. I watched the little cylinder come up to about eye height, maybe a little taller. So it only reached about six foot or so. Not bad considering how far off I was from hitting the center. I figured from that height, as long as I hit the next one flush I should be a proud owner of a new gift card.

"Ooh," the carny said. "Just a little off there Percy. Give her one more go."

I hadn't moved from my last spot, so I just shuffled my feet a little bit. No practice swing needed here. I sent the hammer flying towards my second hit.

It looked good and it felt good and the little cylinder when whistling up its path towards the bell. Less than a second passed and then you could hear _Ding!_

I fist-pumped and turned triumphantly towards Thalia and I found her eating my cotton candy.

"Thalia," I complained. "I told you to hold my cotton candy, not eat it."

"Doesn't matter," she replied. "You can buy more with that $50 gift card."

I turned back to the carny, almost forgetting about the prize.

"Congratulations Percy. Here is your spanking-new Visa gift card, as promised."

"Thanks," I replied, taking the card from him and placing it in my wallet.

"You're welcome. It's already primed and ready to go, so that new cotton candy is ready right around the corner."

I thanked the carny again and I headed off towards the girls.

After a ride on the Ferris wheel and getting stuck at the top (Thalia was freaking out) we stepped off the ride. Thalia basically kissed the ground, which Caly and I both thought was weird and we started to walk off when Calypso's phone rang.

"Hello?" She said. "Oh, hi mom. No, we're still at the carnival. No. But mom! Ugh, fine. I'll be back in a half-hour." She sighed and hung up. "My mom wants me back at the hotel."

"What?" I said. "But it's only five o'clock!"

"I know," she replied sullenly. "But my mom insisted that they were going to a fancy restaurant and they wanted me to come along. Sorry guys."

"Nah, its fine," Thalia said. "I'm glad we got to see each other again, Caly."

"Me too Thals," she replied as the two girls embraced in a hug. "Maybe we'll be able to hang once more before we leave."

"Yeah, I'd like that. Text me if you're available."

"Ok, I will."

With that the three of us exited the carnival heading back towards Caly's hotel. We got back in around twenty minutes and we said our good-byes. Calypso headed up the elevator shaft and Thalia and I were left alone.

* * *

A week later, I was helping Thalia move her stuff into our apartment. Her mom was leaving the next day and the movers had already taken her stuff out to Seattle. Thalia held on to most of her stuff, but she sent some along with her mother to Washington.

I was currently carrying a box labeled 'Shoes' and I peeked inside to see if that was true. This was a pretty big box after all.

Sure enough, a pile of shoes were inside this box. I saw at least ten different pairs and that was just what I could see from the top.

"Thalia, do you really need all of these shoes?" I asked her.

"Oh shut up Percy," I heard. "You wouldn't know."

I decided to let it go. Girls were mysteries to me.

* * *

"Bye, mom," Thalia was saying. She had just wrapped her mother in a hug as the two of us looked on. My mom and I had driven along with her to the airport in order to say our good-byes as well.

_Flight 7360 is now boarding._

"Don't worry Thals, I'll call you when I land in Seattle. We can talk when I land, ok?"

"Ok," Thalia replied, wiping a tear away from her right eye.

"Have fun here in New York," her mom told her. "I hope you have fun in school."

"Only as long as you have fun at work." That got a smile out of her mom.

"I will. I can promise you that. See you later Thalia."

The two Graces shared one last hug before Thalia's mom headed down the tunnel to the plane.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? Kind of a filler chapter, but we had the main event of Thalia moving in with Percy. Next chapter will have Annabeth moving and getting settled in New York, so check next week for that chapter.**

**In other news, new chapters of The Ten (chapter 2) and The Prince, The Girl and The World (chapter 9) were uploaded on Tuesday. If you haven't checked those out yet, be sure to head over to my profile.**

**Not much news for this story. New chapter out next week (probably Thursday), so you can expect it then. I guess we'll just move onto the Question of the Chapter.**

**Here's the QotC for Chapter Six: When Jason Grace battles Porphyrion in the Lost Hero, he states that he was praetor of the First Legion. However, this is not the legion number of Camp Jupiter. The question: What is Camp Jupiter's correct legion number?**

**As always, correct answers receive shout-outs.**

**Make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	8. Chapter 7

**And we're back once more. I got a lot of reviews from you guys last chapter, so thank you so much for that.**

**Speaking of last chapter, I asked you guys about Camp Jupiter's legion number and a lot of you responded with the correct number of legion 12. Congratulations goes out to the following people for correctly giving me that correct answer: Pollex, Ton13333, prince of the seas, Moonlight Shadow Writer, TheLostDaughter, Shadow5436, MarMar5678, ElmoDaHorse, percyjason and annabeth the wise girl.**

**One thing I would like you guys to do more is instead of just giving me the answer, write something about the chapter as well. It could be something as simple as "Great chapter" or something more complicated, but I would appreciate something a little more than just the answer. It was only a couple of you, but I would like to get that out there anyway.**

**Onto the next chapter. You guys will like this one. Over 4,100 words and almost ten pages in Microsoft Word. I won't say anything other than that.**

**Enjoy Chapter Seven of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan is spending enough of his time writing the actual stories. I don't think he'd be writing Fanfiction.**

* * *

Chapter Seven: Annabeth POV

_Please head back to your seats. We are about to start our descent into La Guardia._ I had just come back from one last stop at the bathroom and I noticed the seat-belt sign was turned on. I quickly took my seat next to my two brothers (my parents had made me sit next to the torturous two-some for the entire flight) and clicked my seatbelt into place.

We landed with barely a bump, something I was grateful for, and the pilot quickly made his way to the terminal, or at least as quickly as you could with a jumbo jet.

I led the way down the tunnel out of the plane, my brothers behind me and our parents behind them. As I stepped out into Gate A7 I stopped to take a look around. Nothing seemed familiar, but I kind of expected that. I only had bits and pieces of my recollection from when I lived in New York previously.

People were milling around, minding their own business, their suitcases tailing behind them. I noticed a bunch of business people dressed up in their suits, but since it was a Friday and this was New York, I guess a lot of them were coming home for the weekend.

Someone stopped next to me and I turned as my father put his hand on my shoulder.

"Ready to go home?" He asked me.

I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to call this place home yet. I turned to look down the tunnel once more, hoping there was some way I could get back to San Francisco, but I knew that was impossible. Even if I got back on that plane it wouldn't take me to my true home, but somewhere completely different.

I turned back to my father and nodded. I didn't feel like talking quite yet.

The five of us headed down to baggage claim and after a half-hour or so we had all gotten our suitcases. We headed out to the garage and my dad led the way to a brand new Ford Explorer. My brothers questioned whether this new car was ours, but my dad responded by saying we were only borrowing it until our cars came in from San Fran.

But he didn't stop there. "I will say that we are getting a new car shortly." He took a quick glance at me, but then his gaze returned to my brothers so I wondered if I had just imagined it.

"Come on, let's get going. We need to get everyone settled in by tonight."

The suitcases went into the back and I squeezed in with my brothers as my parents climbed in the front.

We hopped on Interstate 278 as we made our way in towards the city of Manhattan. My mom had told me during the flight that we weren't directly in the city, but more on the outskirts. She told me it would be a fifteen to twenty minute drive to my school, something that I know I wouldn't mind until I was running late on the first day.

We arrived at our apartment after around forty-five minutes of driving. It was like any other apartment from the outside. Brown granite outside covered with gray siding that rose around fifteen stories up. My dad parked in the parking garage underneath the building and the five of us grabbed our stuff and headed towards the elevator.

My mom had told me we were on the twelfth floor, which supposedly gave us a good view of the city. She had told me that I'd enjoy my room, but I wasn't sure what that meant. My mom had been the one to scout out apartments, so she was the only one who actually knew what our new home would look like. I think she shared some pictures with dad, but I wasn't sure.

We rode up the elevator and my brothers, like usual, were being annoying and going 'Ding' every time we passed a floor. I was ready to throw them right back down the elevator shaft, but luckily for them we arrived at our floor.

My mother led the way to the left and within a couple of seconds we were standing in front of apartment 1241. She opened the door and the rest of us followed her inside.

When I got inside, I had to stop and look with wonder. Our new apartment was huge, much bigger than I expected. The kitchen was off to my left, and our dining table had already been delivered. Hallways went off in several directions from the central room and I hoped that my bedroom was in the opposite direction of my brothers'. The living room took up the main part of the central room and it looked like it was cut into the floor a little bit. I could see wood steps, only a couple, coming from the corner closest to us and the far corner. One of those recliner sofas shaped like an 'L' was fit snugly around the third corner of the square and a new flat-screen TV was mounted on the far wall, which had cut off the fourth corner, so the room was more like an unusual pentagon rather than a square. A fireplace was underneath the TV and it looked like my mom was walking over to turn it on, which was weird since it was still summer.

But my mother did nothing of the sort. She walked past the fireplace and the TV and grabbed ahold of what looked like a large golden rope that was attached to the far wall, which was of a burgundy color.

But when my mother pulled the rope, I realized that the burgundy wall wasn't actually a wall itself. It was more of a curtain like one you'd see at a play on Broadway.

When the curtain had drawn back the full way I had to gasp. Behind the burgundy curtain wasn't a stage, but something much more beautiful. The curtain had revealed a floor-to-ceiling glass window that stretched the entire length of the far wall, a good fifty feet. You could see the city itself in the background and as pretty as it looked in the daytime, I was sure it got even better at night.

"Mom, how-" I couldn't even form a sentence.

"I knew you would like it Annabeth. It's one of the most beautiful architectural designs out there and I knew you would appreciate it."

"It's beautiful," I eventually said.

"Yes. That is very true." My mother paused, glancing out the window. "Ok, onto the rooms," she said sternly, snapping us all back to the present. "Annabeth, you will have the only room to the right." She pointed down the hallway to her left. "Follow that hallway and it will be the second door on your left." I nodded at her. "Bobby and Matthew, your room is down the hall with us. Come on." She started to drag my brothers along with her, but they wouldn't go easily.

"But mom," the twins complained. "Why does Annabeth get a room to herself?"

"She's deserved it," my mom replied, which made me smile. "Now come on, time to unpack."

As the four of them walked down the opposite hallway, I turned to the right and headed down to find my room.

Just as my mom said, I opened the second door on the left and for the second time that day I stopped, amazed.

My room was amazing. The walls were painted gray, just like I've always liked, and my bed was spread in the far left corner with a nightstand on either side. I had my own personal bathroom to the left, which had its own shower fit with racks to hold my shampoo and other shower necessities. Two brand new gray bath towels were hanging on the rack along with matching washcloths. I walked back out to my room where I had left my suitcase and for the first time I noticed the small bookcase on the right side of the room opposite my bathroom. A single dresser was to the right of the bookcase and a door was to the right of that, which I now opened out of curiosity.

Inside I found a walk-in closet. Not a very big one, but still a walk-in closet nevertheless, which got me thinking as to how my parents afforded this apartment. Then again, it was probably the same size as our house, if not smaller, so it was just a little more luxurious, which was fine by me.

I noticed several of my boxes that I had packed back in San Francisco were sitting on the floor of the walk-in closet, so I figured this was the place to put everything. I headed back out to my main bedroom and threw my backpack onto the bed when I noticed the gold rope. My line of sight then spread farther outwards to the navy blue curtain and I thought, No way.

I pulled the rope just like my mom had done and sure enough the curtain retracted and I found myself with my own twenty-foot-long floor-to-ceiling glass window. I stared at it in disbelief before a smile slowly came to my face. I was starting to love this apartment already.

I left the curtain open and turned back to the center of the room where I had left my suitcase. I dragged the suitcase into the closet and started to unpack everything, occasionally coming back out to place something into the dresser. Around an hour later I was still unpacking and my mom came into my room as I was making a run out to the dresser.

"So, what do you think?" She asked me.

"It's amazing," I replied. "I keep finding things throughout the room and I keep getting happier. This was a perfect choice mom."

"Well, you do have the best room Annabeth." I looked at her, not believing what she said. "It would have been my choice for the master bedroom, but the realtor told me it was designed with a teenager in mind, so I let you have it."

"Really? You shouldn't have done that mom."

"It's fine. So you say you keep finding things around the room, huh?"

"Yeah. First it was the bathroom, then the walk-in closet and finally the huge window," I said pointing to them in order.

"I know what you mean. This would be heaven for me if I was still a teen." My mom paused for a second as she knelt down to the bookcase. "Say, have you checked out any of these books yet?"

"No," I said disappointed. "I've been too busy unpacking. I will later though."

"Ok," my mom replied. "When you do, be sure to check out the book on the goddess Athena. I'm sure that's something you'll like."

"Yeah, sure." That was kind of a weird request, but the goddess had always intrigued me since my mother was named after her. "I'll be sure to check it out."

"Good." My mother stood up and turned towards me. "We're looking at heading out to dinner in around an hour. Can you be sure to get dressed by then?"

"Yeah, I'll be ready," I replied. "I'm almost done unpacking anyway."

"Ok, good. If you need anything, just call."

"Ok mom. Thanks."

And with that my mother left the room, leaving me to unpack the rest of my clothes.

* * *

Unfortunately for me I didn't get the chance to check out the bookcase before we left for dinner. I had finished unpacking and then I had gotten a quick shower before getting ready to head out to the restaurant.

The restaurant was a fancy one, I guess. Not really over-the-top, but still quite elegant in its own right. The food was great, something that I've always appreciated, and my brothers actually cooperated for a change, which was nice.

After my dad paid the bill, we headed back out to our borrowed car and headed home to our new apartment. My dad managed to pull into the same spot that we had when we left, spot 71, which I thought was weird.

"How did this spot stay open?" I asked. "This is like prime parking right here."

I also noticed that we pulled in next to a brand new BMW, which had been there when we pulled in the first time. The spot opposite the BMW, spot 73, was also empty, as it had been when we arrived.

"This isn't a public parking garage, Annabeth," my mom told me. "Spots are assigned to various apartments, and we just happened to get these."

"Oh, ok. So which spots are ours?"

I swear my parents glanced at each other and my mom gave a slight nod before they turned back to me and answered.

"We have three spots," my dad said. "71, 72 and 73."

That took me a while to register.

"Wait," I said. "Three spots? But we only have two cars." I was confused.

"You need a car to drive back and forth to school, don't you?"

I still wasn't following until my dad threw a set of car keys back at me and they landed in my lap.

"Congrats, girl."

I picked up the car keys, slowly bringing them closer until I could see the BMW symbol branded on the lock.

I took a look to my right towards the white BMW 435i before looking back at my parents.

"You're not serious?" I asked them, not believing it.

"We're serious," my mom said.

I just about bowled over my brother Matthew as I reached for the door, trying to get out. When I finally did, I ran around the back end of the Explorer before staring at the BMW in awe.

"You're not serious?" I asked them again.

My mom laughed. "Yeah, we're serious. It's yours."

I threw the driver's door open, being sure not to hit the Explorer and climbed in the driver's seat. The inside was black leather with red trim and it looked absolutely amazing. I ran my hands over the steering wheel while examining the rest of the interior.

"Can we take it for a drive?" I asked.

"Sure," my mom replied, "but not now. Let's wait for the traffic to die down a little."

"Ok." I took one last look around the interior of my new car before climbing out and shutting the door. I pressed the lock button and the car chirped once signifying the doors were now locked.

I held onto the keys tightly as we made our way to the elevator. I was trying to think of someplace I could put my keys without worrying about my brothers taking them. Right now I was out of luck, but I was sure I'd come up with somewhere eventually.

We walked into our apartment and I noticed that the clock read 6:00. I turned to my parents.

"8 o'clock?" I asked them.

My mom laughed as my dad smiled.

"Sure," she replied. "8 o'clock."

I ran back towards my room to change into something more comfortable before sitting down on my bed, unpacking my laptop as I did so. That's when I noticed the bookcase, so I went over and sat down, checking out the books that were there.

I saw books about Greek Mythology and Daedalus, the great inventor, so I pulled them out and read them for a little bit. After I had put them back in their place on the bookshelf, I remembered my mom's suggestion on reading the book about Athena. I looked for it and after a minute or so I found it on the top row towards the right-hand side.

I pulled the book from the top like I always did and I immediately jumped as I heard a little crash and a jolt rocked the bookshelf. I peered to my left as I realized that a small entrance the size of a doorway had opened up. I peered through and noticed a whole new room. A smile came to my face as I realized what I had found. I had a secret room.

* * *

The next day I got in contact with Thalia and she decided to come over to see our new apartment.

Thalia hadn't changed much, other than aging ten years. Her black hair was spiked, something her mom had always complained about when she was little, but I kind of liked it. Her electric blue eyes were some that I had never forgotten. She had gotten some freckles on her nose but overall she remained the same, which was proven when she wrapped me in a hug the second she saw me.

"Annabeth!" She said. "How are you doing? Enjoying being back in New York so far?"

I smiled at her. Thalia truly hadn't changed at all. Despite her being the dark, mysterious girl that everyone knew her by, she always managed to open up around me, and I managed to do the same around her. I guess that's why we were best friends.

"Hey Thalia," I said, returning the hug. "And yeah, I'm loving New York right now. I've got so much to show you."

Thalia said a quick greeting to my parents, but she was surprised when my brothers came bounding into the room. It took me a second, but I realized that she would have never met them. I did a quick introduction before dragging Thalia off to my room.

I had reset everything, so it looked like a plain room. I had even shut the bathroom and closet doors. I wanted Thalia to be surprised by everything.

"Ok, first off, I got a new car." I told her. "So I can take you home. We'll see it when we leave."

"Really? Sweet. What kind of car is it?"

"A BMW 435i," I told her and Thalia's eyes lit up.

"No way," she said. "No freaking way. Your parents got you a BMW?"

I nodded my head. "I could barely believe it myself Thals."

"Oh, I'm calling Percy off. I'm definitely getting a ride home with you." I gave her a look at the mention of the new name and she noticed it. "Percy's my cousin. I kind of moved in with him after my mom moved."

"You're mom moved?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," she responded. "Better job. It's going to help us with the money problem. Percy and his mom offered to take me in since I didn't want to leave."

"Oh, ok. That's really nice of them."

"Yeah, the Jacksons are the best."

"I bet," I said. "Ok, now for the tour of the room. Looks like just a plain old room, huh?" I led Thalia over to the bathroom, throwing the door open. "Personal bathroom." I motioned her inside and Thalia explored, oohing and ahhing where she saw fit. I led her to the closet door. "Walk-in closet."

"What?" Thalia exclaimed. "You weren't this rich before, were you?"

I motioned her to wait and I walked over to the golden rope for the curtain.

"Watch this," I said as I pulled on the rope. Thalia's look on her face was priceless as I revealed my view of the New York skyline.

"Oh my gods. You are the luckiest girl alive. Mind if I move in with you?"

I laughed before replying. "One more thing."

"There's more?" Thalia said incredulously.

I laughed again. "Save the best for last, right?" I led her over to the false wall. "Stand right here."

"Oh-kay," Thalia said, not quite comprehending.

"Ready?" I said as I knelt down at the bookcase. I saw Thalia nod her head slowly, unsure of where I was taking this.

I pulled the Athena book, hearing the click as the gears flew into action.

Thalia jumped a little, but she quickly realized what was happening.

"No way. No fucking way," she said.

I smiled at her. "You like that?" I asked her.

"Are you kidding me? You have a secret room? Like seriously, who has one of those?"

"Apparently I do," I responded.

"Gee, you think?"

"Come on," I said, pulling her arm. "It gets better."

Thalia gave me a look, clearly not believing me, but that all changed when she walked into the room and I flicked on the lights.

"Oh my gods," was all she could say.

Truthfully, I had the same reaction when I first walked into the room. Directly to our left as we walked through the door was a bookshelf filled with DVDs and CDs with a stereo on the bottom which was hooked up to a DVD player. To the right of that I had my own pantry and mini fridge, something I was sure Thalia was going to raid when she saw it. A pool table and a ping pong table were next to the fridge and I had my own sofa along with several bean bag chairs.

Thalia turned towards me. "You get a Jacuzzi in here and I probably would never leave."

I laughed. "If there was a Jacuzzi in here _I _probably would never leave."

Thalia finally seemed to notice the pantry and the mini fridge. I caught her before she made it the entire way over to it.

"There's nothing in there yet," I told her. "My mom and I are going shopping tomorrow."

My mom had come in on me when I was exploring the room and smiled like she was glad I found it. She had promised we'd stock the pantry and the fridge before the weekend was out and she showed me the knicks and knacks of the room.

Thalia pouted and turned back towards me.

"Of course you're going _tomorrow_," she said, checking the pantry anyways. "Just my luck."

"One more thing, Thals." I pointed above the pantry, where a little camera could be seen. "You see that camera?"

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked, looking up at the little lens.

"Well, it's not a camera," I told her.

Thalia gave me an inquisitive look. "Well, then what is it?"

"Watch." I had made my way over to the light switch and I pressed a button. There was another little jolt and the ceiling on the far side began to lower.

"No way," Thalia said as the movie screen began to get into position. She looked at me as if she couldn't believe what she saw. I was the same way when my mom showed me last night.

"It retracts into the ceiling, as if you couldn't tell that already." I closed the secret door behind us. "This door closes and I can dim the lights all the way. It's full-out surround sound and the walls are soundproof, so we can make it as loud as we want."

"That is awesome," Thalia said, giving a short pause after each word.

"One last thing," I told her. "Since you're basically my one and only friend here, you're going to have to help me get some friends at school."

"Done," she replied almost immediately. "In return we get to come over and party it up in your room here?"

"I don't know about 'partying it up' in my room, but I will bring you guys over here from time to time and we can hang out."

"Ok, sweet."

"What I was going to say is that I'll show them the secret room, but I'm only going to show you how to get into it, ok? Can I trust that you'll keep the secret?"

"Oh, definitely." Thalia's eyes lit up.

"Ok, come on." I turned the lights off and grabbed her arm, pulling her outside. I released the lever on the door and it closed shut. "Ok, walk over to the bookcase, third row." Thalia did as I told her. "You see the book on Athena, the wisdom goddess?"

"Yeah," Thalia replied after a second's pause.

"Pull it," I told her.

Thalia did as I asked and, sure enough, the door popped back open.

"You got that?" I asked her.

"Yeah."

"Remember, don't tell anyone."

"I won't princess." Thalia gave me a smile. "It's your house. You get to tell who you want."

I smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks Thals. It means a lot."

"You're welcome. Now are we going to watch a movie or not?"

I gave my best friend another smile. "Yeah. I'll grab some popcorn from the kitchen."

Thalia gave me another smile as she ducked into the room. I turned away and walked into the kitchen to grab some popcorn and start this new life in New York.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter. Next chapter Percy and Grover hang out before the first day of school and then we skip ahead to the first day of Junior year at Goode High School.**

**The next chapter of Scars and Recognition will be up on Tuesday, so look for it then.**

**In other news, a new chapter for both The Ten and The Prince, The Girl and The World was put up earlier this week, so check those out if you have the time. Also, next chapter of The Ten will be out tomorrow.**

**Now for the Question of the Chapter: Frank Zhang is a son of Mars and a legacy of Poseidon. However, before he knew his dad was Mars, he wished some other god would claim him as his son. The question: Which god did Frank hope was his father?**

**As always, correct answers get a shout-out.**

**Make sure to review!**

**Thanks!  
**

**-PSON**


	9. Chapter 8

**A huge thanks goes out to everyone who reviewed last chapter. We had a ton of reviews, so thank you for that.**

**With this being chapter 8, we are officially a third of the way through this story. I hope you guys celebrate the milestone by reviewing.**

**Last chapter I asked you guys about Frank and his preferred father. And let me tell you we had some winners. Deep breath now and here we go. The following people all correctly gave me the correct name of Apollo as the god who Frank wanted to claim him: Shadowing, violleet, Percabeth4ever25, ACOOLGUY, Apeni, MushyTheMushy, LuLuLucian444, AugustSummer, Booknerd4622, prince of the seas, Colts12broncos18, PJOSeaOfMonstersFan, elliefs, percyjason, Runner of Sorts, MarMar5678, Percabeth'sOwlette, Cupcake girl282, IamTiffanyDaughterofHermes, alyaJackson, Unicorn Blast Pop, The Demigod Gryffindor, ElmoDaHorse, ADayWithNoLaughterIsADayWasted, annabeth the wise girl, PJOrules101, Lili is the One, ChildOfDivinity, Nerdy Athletic, hb88, Violet21 and one guest. Congrats to all. Like I said, we had a couple winners.**

**Onto the chapter, although I'm already tired from writing all of those names. We pick back up with Percy today. It's the same day as when Thalia went over to Annabeth's apartment.**

**Enjoy Chapter Eight of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: I don't even know if I have the energy to say this. 32 people gave me the correct answer. 32!**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Percy POV

"Hey, Grover?" I said once I heard him pick up. "You mind if I come over? Thalia kind of ditched me here and Caly already left for Hawai'i."

"Yeah, sure man," he replied from the other end of the line. "Can you give me an hour or so? I'm out of the house right now."

"Yeah, no problem. Just text me when you're back."

"Sure. See you then, Perce."

"Later, G-man." With that, I pressed the 'End Call' button on my iPhone, setting it down on the table next to me. I looked over at the calendar and saw that one date was circled. Unfortunately, it wasn't my birthday, August 18, but rather the first day of school, which was coming up here in ten days.

I had been thinking about my birthday coming up. I was turning seventeen, so it wasn't like it was a big birthday like my sweet sixteen or my twenty-first, but I was still intrigued to see what my mom got me for presents.

I pushed the thought aside and stepped into the shower for a little bit. Soon after I had gotten out I got a text from Grover, saying it was okay to come over. I sent him a quick text in response, told my mom I was going out and grabbed my keys to my car. I walked down to the parking garage and hopped in my new Dodge Charger that my dad had gotten me for my sixteenth birthday before driving off.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up to Grover's house and parked in his driveway before locking my car and heading up to the front door, ringing the doorbell in the process.

Grover opened the door and the two of us walked up to his room. I noticed his Xbox was on and the lobby for Call of Duty was on the screen. I popped my shoes off and set them next to his door before joining him on the bed. He handed me a controller before continuing into a game of Team Deathmatch.

"So, what's up?" Grover asked.

"Nothing much," I told him, knifing some guy from behind. "Thought I'd come over before school started to hang with my main man."

"I agree with you there," he replied, looking up at me after respawning. "We haven't really hung out that much this summer."

"Yeah, I know," I said, risking a glance over at him. "And school's coming up in ten days. It's hard to believe."

"Tell me about it," Grover replied, his gaze focused back on the TV screen. "And your birthday, right? That's in the next couple days, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Monday," I told him. "Party like usual. You're invited."

"I better," he said. "But please tell me Silena isn't coming over."

I smirked. "I don't know. I think she's going to be on a cruise or something up until the day before school starts, though I'm not sure."

"Thank the gods. After what she did last year, I'm surprised you even invited her again."

"Hey, we're friends, alright? Plus, she'd probably kill me if she didn't get an invite."

"Whatever you say, Perce," Grover said as he turned towards me. The game had ended. We had lost, but I wasn't too mad. I was never really good at COD anyway.

I ignored his last comment. "Hey, you have Fifa, right? Mind putting it in? I'm horrible at COD."

"Yeah, I can tell," he replied, pointing at the screen. "Two kills and nine deaths? Top notch player right there."

"Oh shut up. I'm better at Fifa."

"I know," he said. "Can't you tell that's why I'm wasting time? No one wants to play you dude."

I shot my best friend a grin. I couldn't argue with him there. I was basically known as being the best Fifa player at Goode High and I prided myself on that accomplishment, although Thalia kept telling me that it wasn't a big deal.

Grover continued, "By the way, rumor has it that some freshman is coming in who thinks he's big stuff with the game. It would be nice to shut him up."

I flashed my best friend another grin. "Don't worry, I've answered every other challenge, haven't I?"

"Dude, I know. No need to bring up that you thrashed a senior in front of the entire school last year."

"I normally don't have to," I responded. "Most of the time other people bring it up for me."

Grover gave me a look, but let it go. "Come on, let's play online. That'll let me play with you, so I don't get thrashed."

The two of us played online for around an hour or so, of course going undefeated thanks to my amazing skills. After we were done playing, we headed downstairs to grab some food and watch some TV for a little while before I got a text from my mom saying she wanted me back home. I said good-bye to Grover, promising we'd get back together on Monday, hopped back into my car, and started the ten minute drive back to my apartment.

I quickly made my way home, using the back roads to avoid the traffic, and made my way to my parking spot in the garage underneath our apartment. As if by coincidence, I met Thalia in the elevator.

"Hey," I told her. "Long time, no see. How was your day?"

"Great," she said. "What are you doing out?"

"Went over to Grover's. Figured it would be a good time considering you were already out of the house."

"Oh, ok. What did you guys do?" Thalia asked.

"Nothing much," I replied. "Just played Xbox for a while and then watched some TV. We talked a little about the first day of school. Oh, and he's coming over Monday for the party."

"Oh, he is? Who else is coming, that you know?"

"I haven't really confirmed it with everyone yet, but it's probably going to be the normal bunch, except for maybe Silena, since I think she's on a cruise or something."

"Oh, phew. Given what she did last year, I'm sort of happy about that."

I rolled his eyes and let it go as we came out onto our floor. That was the second time someone brought up what happened last year and that wasn't really something I wanted to remember.

Thalia opened the door to their apartment and almost immediately they could smell food cooking in the kitchen. I made a quick run through the kitchen to tell my mom that we were both back. She responded by saying dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes or so. Making my way back into the living room, I saw that Thalia had changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants. I decided to follow her lead and I walked into my bedroom.

* * *

Ten days later, Thalia and I were parked in Grover's driveway, ready to head off to the first day of school.

Grover soon came out after I pushed the horn a couple times and like usual headed over to the passenger seat, but that's when he noticed Thalia was sitting there.

"Dude," he said as he opened the rear door. "What gives?"

"Sorry, man," I replied. "I have to take Thalia now that she's living with us. She claimed shotgun almost immediately."

"It's okay, Grover," Thalia said from the front seat, turning back to face him. "You can have the back seat _all _to yourself."

I saw Grover roll his eyes and mutter something before jumping into the backseat. I smirked and quickly threw the car into reverse, backing down the driveway.

We quickly made our way to the school and I managed to park in an okay spot. The seniors got all of the good parking spots, so we juniors had to settle for the spots farther away. I wasn't that mad though. At least we got a parking spot. Some other kids I knew at different schools had to take the city bus to school and I knew how reliable they were.

A conglomeration of kids were walking in towards the school as the three of us got out, grabbing our stuff from the trunk. Most kids were singles, but there was the occasional group that either hooked up on the way over or just now in the parking lot. I turned and shut the trunk, locking the car after Grover and Thalia had grabbed their backpacks. The three of us headed in a group towards the school.

We hadn't even made it halfway before I heard someone say my name. I turned towards the person and immediately winced and then caught Thalia's glance.

"You'd have to see them eventually," she said.

"I know," I replied. "But I was hoping to at least get _inside_ the school first."

The three of them waited for the twins to catch up.

"Hey, Percy," Travis said. "Long time, no see, bud. First off, happy birthday, even if I'm a little late." He handed me a small package and I immediately promised myself that I wouldn't open it. The Stolls were known for their pranks and I wasn't ready for another one.

"Uh, thanks," I replied. "But the present wasn't necessary."

"Oh, but it was," Connor responded. "You're just going to enjoy it so much."

"I'll bet. Hey, this isn't going to explode, is it? I'm going to put it in my car, so I'd like an honest answer guys."

"No, it won't," Travis replied, and he didn't look over at his brother, so I knew he was telling the truth. When the Stolls started their glances was when you knew you were in trouble.

I quickly popped open my trunk, placing the gift in there before closing it and joining back up with the others. The five of us started to walk back towards the school.

We walked in with a bunch of other kids and headed up to the junior wing of the school, stopping in the office to get our schedules.

"Yes! First period with Percy!"

"Please tell me that I won't be alone with the Stoll brothers first period," I said.

"Sorry, Perce," Thalia replied. "I'm with Grover in Science. See you later." She pulled Grover off down the opposite hallway and I was stuck with the Stoll brothers.

"Come on, Perce," they said, each looping an arm around mine. "It's going to be an awesome year with you in first period."

I groaned as they led me down the hall and around the corner.

First period sucked. Not only did I have the Stoll brothers in my class, Silena was too and insisted I sit next to her. Although I'd prefer Silena to the Stoll brothers, she isn't that much better, but don't tell her that. She'd probably kill me.

Second period I met up with Grover and Beckendorf in History, which immediately made me love the class. The three of us sat together and got caught up with what we did over the summer, since I hadn't seen him since June, I think. Our teacher was pretty cool, as she let us talk for the entire period since she didn't have anything planned for the first day.

After second period, though, was when the school day took a vicious turn. I was walking with Grover since we both had third period together as well, when we passed Thalia.

She was walking with a girl whom I recognized almost immediately. The girl was ten years older, no doubt, but was still the same girl I had liked back when we were six. She had no doubt gotten better looking over those years.

I could probably have given her description without even looking at her. Her long blonde hair was still curled like a princess's and her gray eyes were still as stormy as I remembered. She had grown tall, taller than Thalia (but not as tall as me) and she had a good-looking tan as if she had constantly been at the beach. She was thin and athletic like a distance runner. I could feel myself slipping away, heading back into the past to relive the worst moment of my life.

_Screech, crash. Everything went black and I fell into unconsciousness._

Grover was shaking me. I came back out of my flashback and looked over at Grover.

"Dude, are you alright?"

"Yeah," I replied slowly, shaking my head to clear the vision. I looked back over my shoulder at Annabeth's retreating form. She hadn't noticed me, at least as I saw.

"Dude, what's up?" He asked, following my gaze.

"Annabeth's back," I told him.

"Annabeth? You mean-"

"Yeah," I said, cutting him off. "You're thinking of the right one."

"But then-"

"I don't know Grover. I just thought back to the accident. I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm not even sure if she recognized me."

"Ok, well we'll talk with Thalia then and see what's up. Come on, we'll be late for Math."

I followed Grover into the room and the two of us sat down next to each other. I tried to shake the thought from my head, but I couldn't. Math was a disaster as was Science. Neither class provided the right thing to make me forget about the accident. It wouldn't be until I smelled food at lunch two periods later that I would finally clear my head.

I sat down at our usual table, ready to dig into the school lunch that probably wasn't really healthy for me when Thalia brought her over.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? Kind of a filler chapter, but we're now into the school year and Percy has already noticed Annabeth. We're getting into the meat of the plot now guys, so enjoy it while you can.**

**Ok, onto news. Chapter Nine will be posted on Monday, so look for it then. New chapter of The Ten is out tomorrow.**

**Not much other news, so let's move on.**

**The Question of the Chapter: In the Mark of Athena, Leo and Hazel are trying to get a hunk of celestial bronze out from a lake as well as help Echo. In Leo's crazy plan where he goes all "Team Leo" on the nymphs surrounding Narcissus, he has Hazel draw a 'tattoo' on one of his biceps. Here's the question: What does Hazel write on his bicep as his 'tattoo?' Correct answers get shout outs, like always.**

**Make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


	10. Chapter 9

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter. We passed the 200 review mark!**

**Ok, moving on. Last chapter I asked you guys what Hazel wrote on Leo's arm as his 'tattoo' and we have some winners. The following people all gave me the correct answer of Hot Stuff: ACOOLGUY, Cupcake girl282, Hunter of Artemis101, violleet, prince of the seas, elliefs, awesomeness, DragonClan, MushyTheMushy, wisdom-of-the-sea, ElmoDaHorse, Booknerd4622, percyjacksonlover4ever, PJOfan1 and one guest. Congratulations to all.**

**Onto the chapter. We pick right back up from where we left off.**

**Enjoy Chapter Nine of Scars and Recognition.**

**Disclaimer: Riordan would have made this story more exciting.**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Percy POV

I stopped what I was doing and stared right at her. She seemed to be scanning over each of us and then she finally landed on me. The two of us stared at each other for a while before Thalia shocked us out of it.

"Ok guys," she said. "This is Annabeth. She just moved here from San Francisco, so I hope you guys give her a warm welcome." She then went on to introduce each one of us. She eventually landed on me. "And this is my cousin, Percy."

"Percy," Annabeth repeated. "That name sounds familiar. Do I know you?"

Maybe she actually did remember, I thought. I decided to play it safe.

"I think so," I replied. "You used to live here, right?"

"Yeah," she replied sheepishly. "I recognized the Stoll brothers immediately, but you're a little fuzzy."

I tried not to let that get to me.

"Hey, it's been ten years, hasn't it?" She gave me a small smile in return.

"Yeah, I guess so."

She sat down across from me and I found it hard not to look at her. She really had gotten beautiful over the years. I was glad the Stoll brothers didn't sit with us. They'd be all over her in a second.

I felt Grover giving me a look from my left, but I ignored him. I'd talk with him later. He was the only one who seemed to realize that I was holding something back.

I felt extremely awkward throughout the entire period and I was glad when the bell finally rang. Being with Annabeth any more than that wouldn't have been good for me.

I stood up and put my tray on the return rack and headed back to our seats to pick up my backpack. I saw Thalia conversing with Annabeth when suddenly my cousin looked up at me.

"Wait, Percy! Don't you have Greek now?"

"Yeah," I replied, not sure where she was taking this.

"Ok, Annabeth go with him," she said, turning towards the blonde." You guys have the same class."

I gulped as Annabeth walked over towards me. Great, this was going to be _extremely _awkward. I took a deep breath, steading myself.

"So, ready to go?" I asked her. Annabeth merely nodded and she fell in-step with me.

If I thought things couldn't get worse, I was wrong. At that moment, Grover yelled, telling the two of us to wait up. I had almost forgotten he was in the same class as us. He joined in with the two of us and stood on the other side of Annabeth.

On one hand, I was glad Grover was with the two of us. It gave me someone else to talk to. On the other hand, it also gave him a chance to scrutinize me more for not telling the truth back at lunch. He'd let it go, but I didn't think he'd let it go for long.

"So, Annabeth," he said. "How do you like Goode so far?"

She shrugged. "It's hard to tell," she replied. "I haven't gotten through an entire day yet."

"Don't worry," I said. "You'll like Greek. It's probably the best class at Goode."

Annabeth looked over at me. I was about to give her a grin when Grover ruined it.

"Well, of course it is, Percy. That's because it's the only class you can actually pass."

"Ok, that's not true," I replied. "I passed both Science and History last year."

"Yeah," Grover said with a laugh. "Barely."

"How about you try going through high school with dyslexia and then tell me how easy it is."

"Ok man, whatever you say."

"Wait," Annabeth said quietly. "You have dyslexia too?"

"Yeah. Well, only a mild case, but it still makes it hard." We entered the classroom as the bell rang. "Why? Do you have it too?" I sat down in an open chair on the left side. Annabeth sat to my right.

She was about to answer me when the teacher spoke.

"Mr. Jackson," he said and I turned to look at him. "Welcome back. I see you're still as talkative as usual." A little laugh escaped the students. "How was your summer?"

"Great, Mr. Brunner," I replied. "How was yours?"

"Hmph, ok I guess," he told me. "At least I didn't have to deal with you every day."

Another short laugh came from the students and I grinned. Everyone knew that Mr. Brunner actually liked me. He just knew I wouldn't mind if he picked on me and used me in examples and the other kids recognized that. He turned towards Annabeth, as if recognizing her for the first time.

"Oh, and it looks like we have a new student. You must be Miss Chase. Welcome to Greek and Latin Mythology."

"Thank you," she replied.

"Don't worry," I told her. "He won't pick on you as long as I'm here. I'm the butt of all his jokes."

The other kids laughed in agreement.

"That is true," Mr. Brunner said. "You see, Miss Chase, I like to compare Mr. Jackson to a certain god every once and a while. Today we'll go with Ares. Strong, fit and good-looking, but not so smart up here, if you know what I mean." Mr. Brunner was pointing towards his brain. I shook my head as the other kids let out another short laugh. Mr. Brunner had told me one day that my class always had the higher grades on tests, because they would always think back to when I was insulted and they would always remember the answer. I wasn't really supportive of that, but I liked Mr. Brunner anyway. He was a cool teacher.

Annabeth seemed reluctant to answer him, but that was understandable. It was her first day and she didn't want to say anything wrong.

"Ok, let's get started then," Mr. Brunner continued. "The original Olympians were children of which two Titans?" Several hands shot up, including mine. "Yes, Ares?" A couple kids snickered as he called on me.

"Kronos and Rhea," I responded, ignoring the joke.

"Very good Ares. You might have a brain up there after all." The kids let out another short laugh. I saw Annabeth smile at this one. "Next question. The first six Olympians were born in what order? Oh, Miss Chase? Do you know the answer?"

"That's kind of why my hand's raised, sir," she replied and I had to laugh. Annabeth caught on fast.

Mr. Brunner gave her a look of approval. "Very well. Go ahead then."

"Hestia was born first, then Demeter, Hera, Hades, Poseidon and finally Zeus."

"Very good, Miss Chase. Ares, you might learn something from this one yet."

I rolled my eyes as Annabeth gave me a sheepish smile.

The rest of the class went on like that. Mr. Brunner would ask some random question, pick on Ares (me), and then continue on in the same fashion, making sure to insult me where necessary.

At the end of class, Annabeth joined back up with me as Grover wanted to stay behind for a second. I was starting to enjoy her company and I hoped to put the accident behind us.

"So," she asked me, "he normally does that?"

"Oh yeah," I told her. "Every day." Annabeth gave me a look. "Just wait for the first test. You'll probably think about me fourteen or fifteen times. That's how it always works."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I don't mind. It actually helps me too." Annabeth gave me another look, as if she didn't believe me, but then she turned away.

"So, what do you have next?" She asked me.

"Swimming," I said proudly. "You?"

"Ugh, swimming?" She said. "Why would you want to take that in high school?"

"Hey," I defended. "It's an easy class. Why? What elective are you taking?"

"Architecture," she replied. "I have it first period."

"Ugh, architecture," I replied, trying to mimic her tone. "Why would you want to take that in high school?"

"Oh shut up, Percy. Just show me where the science room is."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, giving her a little salute. "Right this way."

I saw her roll her eyes at me. Maybe I won't have to bring up the accident, I thought. We're doing pretty well without it.

After dropping her off at the science room, I made my way over to the pool, only arriving a minute late. I explained that I was showing a new girl to a room and the teacher let it go. I hopped next to Thalia and the two of us got talking. We weren't swimming today since it was the first day of school.

Once the bell rang, Thalia and I walked to our lockers, getting our stuff out before we headed home. Grover was waiting for us, as he had agriculture last period, so he had already stopped by his locker since it was right outside the classroom.

The three of us walked back out to the parking lot. Grover immediately called shotgun and he grinned as Thalia pouted in defeat. We dropped Grover off before heading back to our apartment.

That night, I had a nightmare for the first time in seven years.

* * *

I remember it all too well. The date was July 23rd, 2001. Thalia had invited me to come along to the beach with her friend Annabeth, a cute, amazing six-year-old girl with curly blonde hair. Unbeknownst to Thalia, I had liked Annabeth for a while now. Like I said before, she was one of the cutest girls at our school.

But, like the coward I was, I never really got the chance to tell Annabeth I liked her, much less talk to her on a regular basis.

I mean, we did talk to each other, but it wasn't like we were really close friends or anything. Either way, she like this guy who was a year older than us, so it wasn't like I really had a chance.

Anyway, the three of us headed to the beach with Thalia's mom. Annabeth said her mom would pick her up from the beach and I was staying over at Thalia's that night because my mom was out of town.

The three of us put our beach stuff down by Thalia's mom and then we took off towards the surf, which was crowded with people ranging from kids like us to people in their forties.

The second my foot hit the surf, I felt right at home. I had been to the ocean so many times I had lost count, so you could say it was my second home.

I dove down and completely submerged myself in the water. I swam underwater for around fifteen seconds or so, avoiding people's legs before having to come up for air. When I broke the surface, I noticed, surprised, that I was a good twenty-five yards out to sea, which was strange because I didn't think I swam that far.

The day continued. The three of us had several splash fights, trying to douse each other with water even though we were already swimming and completely drenched. We had a sand castle contest (something I failed at), and we took turns burying each other in sand. We were having so much fun, we agreed we needed a break. Annabeth asked if she could get ice cream at the place across the street and Thalia's mom gave her some money. Annabeth took off towards the vendor before I could get my money, so I was basically running to catch up to her.

That's when we hit the street and things went wrong. I tried to stop the dream, knowing where this was going, but I couldn't. Annabeth kept walking and I kept looking at the taxi coming up the road. As quick as I could calculate, I knew the taxi would hit her. Annabeth was distracted, counting her money, so I knew she wouldn't stop to look for traffic.

I practically sprinted to get myself out into the road. I _had _to stop that taxi. If I was older I probably would have done it differently, but as a kid, all I did was focus on the taxi. It wasn't until I stepped out into the road that I realized the taxi weighed several tons and I was puny compared to it.

The last thing I remembered was the screeching of the brakes and the force of the front end as I blacked out.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, what did you think? First glimpse into the accident in this chapter and I can tell you it won't be the last. Tell me how you liked it.**

**This was kind of a short chapter, but oh well. Next chapter we have some more Percabeth, although outside of school. Hmm, what could happen there?**

**Onto news. If you haven't heard yet, my newest story, The Ten, was put on a little hiatus last week in order to give me time to finish The Prince, The Girl and The World by the time I leave for college on the 17th. This story will go on as scheduled, and I will release the next chapter a week from today.**

**In other great news, if you really knew me, you would know that I have a special anniversary coming up this Friday, August 2nd. It will be the one year anniversary of my debut of The Princess and the Peasant. So bring out your party hats and get ready to celebrate. This Friday I will be releasing my first ever one-shot, which will be based off of one of the songs I wrote for The Big Three. So please take a look at it if you have the time.**

**Ok, that's it for news, so onto the Question of the Chapter: In Percy Jackson's The Lightning Thief, Chapter Ten: I Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus, Annabeth is explaining the feud between Poseidon and Athena and how they fought for patronage of the city of Athens. Annabeth says that her mom gave the city an olive tree and thus they named the city after her, but Percy has other ideas. He suggests that if Athena had created a certain food item he would have understood the Athenians decision. The question: What popular food item does Percy suggest?**

**Correct answers receive shout-outs as always.**

**Make sure to review!**

**Thanks!**

**-PSON**


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